Historic, archived document

Do not assume content reflects current
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OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 53

November 20, 1935.

SOUTHERN FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION
E. L. Demmon, Director
New Orleans, La.

USE OF LAND FOR FORESTS
IN THE LOWER PIEDMONT REGION OF GEORGIA

By

W. E. Bond, Forest Economist,
and

A. R. SpILLERS, Associate Forest Economist.

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This paper releases data gathered in current investigations of the Southern
Forest Exper iment S t» t i on , and is subject to correction or modification follow-
ing further investigation.

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FOREWORD

The study reported in this paper was made under an agreement signed August
15, 1933 between the Regents of the University System of Georgia and the following
branches of the United States Departm^ent of Agriculture: The Bureau of Agricultural
Economics, the Southern Forest Experiment Station, and the Bureau of Chemistry and
Soils. When the Division of Program Planning of the Agricultural Adjustment Admin-
istration was organized in 1933, the Land Policy Section of that Division continued
the cooperation of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

The study was made in the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia. Its primary
purpose, as stated in the Memorandum of Agreement was:

"To determine, for the territory covered, the elements of a land utilization
program, based upon a thorough study of physical conditions, present methods of util-
ization, and economic and social factors which tend to determine present and prospec-
tive utilization, and which should be taken into consideration in determining the ad-
justments requisite in a sound program of land utilization."

This report is the part contributed by the Southern Forest Experiment Station
to the project. Portions of this report were published by the Georgia Agricultural
Experiment Station as Chapter VI in Bulletin #191, "Georgia Land Use Problems."
Because the edition of that bulletin was limited, the present report is being pub-
lished in full in order to reach all those who are primarily interested in the forests.

E. L. Demmon
Director

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

The Region 1

Location and description 1

History of the region 2

Present land use 4

Forest Conditions 5

Types 5

Merchantability 6

Density - 6

Additional areas available for forest 7

Volumes and growth 7

Forest Industries * 18

Lumbering 18

Fuelwood production 19

Other wood-using industries 19

Financial Possibilities of Forest Management in Present Stands 20

Present production of forests 20

Estimated future yields of forest under management 20

Regulated cutting 21

Fire protection 22

Planting 22

Taxes 23

Financial possibilities of farm woodlands 25

Financial possibilities of subsistence homestead

community forests 83

Use of Forests for Soil Protection, Game Management,

Recreation, and Grazing 39

Use of forests for soil protection 39

Fish and game production and recreation 41

Grazing 43

Summary ...... 43

Appendix

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USE OF LAND FOR FORESTS

IN THE LOWER PIEDMONT REGION OF GEORGIA

By

W. E. Bond, Forest Economist,
and

A. R, SpiLLERS, Associate Forest Economist,

THE REGION

Location and Description

The Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia includes about 35 counties located in
the central part of the State. (See figure 1). This area of about 7,254,400 acres is
bounded on the east and west by the state lines of South Carolina and Alabama, and
on the south by the Fall Line, a topographic demarcation between the Piedmont or
foot-hills and the coastal plain, that extends approximately from Augusta through
Macon to Columbus. In the north the Lower Piedmont Region may be separated arbi-
trarily from the Upper Piedmont Region by a line passing just south of Atlanta that
extends from Hartwell to Carrollton. The Lower Piedmont Region extends into Ala-
bama, South Carolina and North Carolina. Much of the information given in this re-
port will apply to the region in those states as well as to Georgia.

On the whole, the Lower Piedmont is a gently rolling area, adequately drained
by some streams that flow southward into the Gulf of Mexico and by others that flow
southeastward into the Atlantic Ocean. Its soils, represented chiefly by the Cecil
and Davidson series, are derived from ancient igneous and metaraorphic formations.
The average annual rainfall is about 45 or 50 inches, and the mean annual temperature
for the region is between 60 and 65 degrees. An average growing season of about 8
months is conducive to the production of both agricultural and forest crops.

The Lower Piedmont Region is often described as the ’’old plantation section”
because for many years individual land holdings have been so large that usually each
owner has employed some tenants or croppers to farm his land. This system of farm*
ing still prevails today. Cotton, the principal crop and source of income, has been
largely instrumental in foi'ming the prevSent social and economic system in this region.
The population in 1930, 53 percent of which was white, numbered 495,196, or 43.6
persons per square mile. Most of these people have always been farmers, but within
the last decade the textile industry has developed in the area and has encouraged an
increase in population in some of the small towns. The terra ’’old abandoned planta-

The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to all who have aided in any
way in the accomplishment of this project, particularly to:

Dr.W.A. Hartman and H.H. Wooten of the Land Policy Section, Division of Program
Planning, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, who have planned and carried out the
Land Utilization Project as a whole and have furnished the land use areas and tax data
for this report; State Forester, B.M. Luf burrow, who assigned an assistant for field
work; W.G. Wallace, District Forester, Georgia Forest Service; Professor G.L. Fuller
of the University of Georgi a ; Mr . Has ty of the Bureau of Chemistry and So i 1 s ; A . D. Read,
representing the Southern Forest Experiment Station; and W.P. David, representing the
Bureau of Agricultural Economics and the Southern Forest Experiment Station.

tion section" would more accurately describe this region, for abandoned fields are
ubiquitous. Old abandoned fields are now reforested to such an extent that 55.6 per-
cent of the total area may be classed as forest area; yet more than two-thirds of the
timberland has been cultivated at one time or another.

History of the Region

The Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia was settled during the last quarter of
the eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth centuries by immigrants from
the older settlements of Georgia, Virginia, and the Carol inas. Prior to 1800 the
region west of the Oconee River was Indian territory and settlement was limited to
areas east of that river. Early in the 19th century the settlers m.ade treaties with
the Indians and the land was opened to those from Georgia by lottery, but it was also
sold to immigrants who flocked in from Virginia and the Carol inas. The land was
soon afterwards dotted by small farms. The first settlers cleared the rich lands on
the rivers and creeks, and raised live stock, corn, and wheat. They also cleared, to
some extent, the pine uplands. Cotton and tobacco were of little importance until
trade received a great impetus after the war of 1812. At first the farms were held
by relatively poor men with very few slaves; but as soon as an excellent market for
cotton developed, the wealthy planters began to buy up the best land in large blocks
and the small owners moved farther west.

Before the Civil War the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia had become a cot-
ton empire rivalling the coast states. A decade or two after this conflict, the re-
gion, having slowly recovered from its economic setback, again became'a large factor
in the production of cotton. From that time until about 1920 it remained a relatively
prosperous region. - Since early times, however, the wealth of the country has been
concentrated in the hands of a few people. The land-owning class of pre-war days
had profited from the labors of the slaves and poor whites, with the resulting con-
trast in standards of living exemplified by the palatial planter’s home and the' slave
shacks or "quarters." During the Reconstruction and afterward, this social condition
remained unaltered, for the' land^owning class built the big homes, usually in the
small towns, and rented the land to tenants and sharecroppers. " ' ‘ '

With little supervision from their town-dwelling landlords, these tenants and
sharecroppers have never been careful to adopt conservative measures of cultivation.
It matters' T ittle to them that the cotton plant exacts much from the soil and gives
no protection from erosion during almost half the year; therefore until recently, soil
cover crops and terraces were practically unknown. Old residents in the section re-
call dnys when furrows were plowed at right angles to the contours "so each furrow
could drain itself", or when a mark was placed at one end of the field so that a plow-
man, in mOking his first furrow, headed directly toward his mark regardless of the
topography. The* light' sandy- soils of this region eroded so easily that many of the
fields, within a- few years after having been cleared, became unfit for agriculture and
had ‘to be abandoned. But land was plentiful and could be had for the cost of clear-
ing the forest; when one field was abandoned, another area was cleared. .. .

The boll weevil began its wholesale destruction of cotton in 1920, and until
checked several years later. This pest continued to devastate entire crops. The crop
loss in 1922 was so nearly complete that the financial structure of the whole Yegion,
which was directly connected with agriculture, was severely damaged. During the
subsequent years of agricultural depression leading up to the present, ' recovery has
been slow. Compared to erosion, however, which has rendered the land physically
unfit for farming, the 'boll weevil has been but a minor factor in weakening the econ-
omic -structure of the region. '

- 2 -

FIGURE - I

LOCATION SAMPLE STRIPS AND SELECTED AREAS IN
LOWER PIEDMONT GEORGIA

3

When the land was first cleared for agriculture, trees were cut and burned.
Old residents recall the "log rollings" of early days: social events in which farmers
would gather at a given plantation and help to clear the land. Months prior to the
"log-rolling" the timber had been girdled so that it would be dry. Fine, big, old
shortleaf and loblolly pines, oaks, yellow poplars, and other hardwoods were cut,
rolled together, and burned. Much of the forest area was thus cleared and only a
minute fraction of the vast quantities of original growth timber was utilized for
local construction.

More than four-fifths of the Lower Piedmont Region has been cleared at one
time or another, but much of this cleared land has been abandoned. The great scar-
city of labor following the Civil War resulted in the abandonment of much crop land;
and again between 1919 and 1932, owing to the combined agency of erosion and post-
war decline in the cotton market, crop acreage decreased about 42 percent.

A large percentage of this abandoned crop land has seeded- in to pine, so that
today the old field pine timber makes up a large part of the total forest area, as
well as a large part of the total area of the Region. With very few exceptions this
region has never known large sawmills. Small sawmills came here about 1913 from the
Carol inas and began to cut boards. They obtained their stumpage partly from the
small remnant of old-growth timber, but mainly from the old field stands. Following
the severe losses from the boll weevil invasion, the farmers found relief in the sale
of timber.

At first the small sawmill operators paid very little for stumpage, but the
world war boom encouraged high prices for lumber and resulted in increased stumpage
prices. The small sawmill industry developed rapidly after the War; the peak of lum-
ber production in this region was reached in about 1924. By 1929 lumber manufactur-
ing had already shrunk far below that of the peak year, and today it is at a low ebb.
This condition is due not only to the present depression of the lumber market, but
also to the rapid diminution of the timber supply. The forest often saved the cotton
planter from bankruptcy; but when he sold his timber he considered only his immediate
gain- -and as a result the forest has been left in a poor condition.

Present Land Use

According to the 1930 census, only 22.5 percent of the total land area in the
Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia is "harvested" crop land; but about 43 percent of
the Region is classed as agricultural, which includes crop, pasture, and idle land.
Forested land occupies 55.6 percent of the area and urban districts make up the re-
mainder.’

Large plantations with sharecroppers and tenants are still characteristic of
this region, where about half of the crop land produces cotton. Cover and soil im-
provement crops are used on some of these plantations, and contour plowing and ter-
racing are slowly increasing in popularity; but much of the land is still being farmed
in such a destructive manner that serious erosion is everywhere apparent. Here, where
40 percent of the cleared land is idle, erosion is the chief agent in the widespread
abandonment of land. The fourfold cycle of (1) woodland clearing, (2) farming with-
out erosion control, (3) abandonment, and (4) subsequent reforestation, is as common
today as in earlier eras; but most of the clearing done now is in woodland that was
once field, hence the rate of abandonment is greater than that of clearing.

’ See table 1 in the

Append i x

for details by counties.

- 4 -

Fortunately, however, abandoned land does not remain idle very long in most
parts of this region. If a cultivated field adjacent to pine seed trees is abandoned,
a young forest will soon reclaim the land. Given ordinary protection from fire, es-
pecially in the early stages of their growth, these young stands usually develop into
forests. Over two-thirds of the present forests, occupying about 37 percent of the
total area of the Lower Piedmont, are of old field origin; whereas natural forest land
that has never been cleared occupies only about 18 percent of the area.

FOREST CONDITIONS
Types

Two methods of field procedure were followed in studying forest conditions of
the Lower Piedmont Region. The first plan involved an intensive investigation in
six sample areas, each about 16 square miles in extent, which were chosen as repre-
sentative of the predominating soils. The forest on the sample areas was mapped ac-
cording to type, size of trees, density, and merchantability; at the same time the
soil, slope, erosion, and other characteristics of the land were also mapped. Forest
classifications comparable to those mapped were sampled by taking one-fourth acre
plots every one-sixteenth mile on parallel lines spaced one-half mile apart. Two
sample areas were located in Wilkes County and one in each of the following: Jasper,
Meriwether, Morgan, and Monroe Counties. The second field method involved the map-
ping of the forest types, tree sizes, density, and other data on a strip running across
Georgia through the Lower Piedmont Region. This strip was one-eighth of a mile wide
and 208 miles long; it was run generally in a westward direction. (See figure 1).

These field studies have shown that the old field pine type occupies about two-
thirds of the forested area in the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia. Wherever short-
leaf and lobloll}'^ pine seed trees grow near an open area, they quickly restock it
after abandonment. Loblolly pine is usually slightly more abundant than shortleaf.
Hardwoods too, such as red gum, dogwood, elm, maple, and oak, are sometimes found
in the old field type, but they are subordinate components of the stands. In cutover
stands, however, hardwoods become more numerous. The old field type occurs most
commonly on slopes of average steepness that lie between the tops of ridges and the
more precipitous slopes to streams. Such situations were once cleared but due to
sheet and gully erosion, they have since been abandoned.

The upland pine type, which includes only upland forested tracts that have
never been cultivated, occupies about 10 percent of the total forest area. Included
in this type are stands containing shortleaf and loblolly pines and hardwoods. Short -
leaf usually predominates over loblolly in the stands, but the hardwoods maj^ predomi-
nate over both. Hardwoods in the upland pine type include oak and hickory, with red
gum, yellow poplar, dogwood, and other hardwoods sometimes in evidence. Most of
the stands in this type are confined to the dry ridges and steep slopes.

The pine hardwood type represents about 11 percent of the forested area of the
region. This type includes those characteristically fast-growing stands of mixed pine
and hardwoods found upon second-bottom and branch-head sites. Loblolly pine is more

- 5 -

commonly found here than shortleaf. The hardwoods usually associated with the pines
in this type are yellow poplar, red gum, oak, hickory, maple, sassafras, ash, redbud,
and elm*. Rarely is this type found upon land that has been cultivated, since cultiva-
tion of the precipitous slopes of the branch-head sites and of the poorly drained
second-bottoms was not usually attempted.

About 11 percent of the forest land falls in the bottomland hardwood type whose
stands are composed almost entirely of hardwood trees. This type, as its name im-
plies, is confined to the bottomland of the rivers and larger creeks. A wide varia-
tion in hardwood species is found, including water oaks, gum, ash, willow, elm, maple,
and hackberry. In some places this type is found on land that has been cultivated,
but generally the sites are too poorly drained for agriculture.

Where the stands have not been cut and are growing upon old fields, the trees
are generally even-aged, although they offer a considerable variation in diameter
classes. Logged old field stands tend to become uneven-aged, for the general practice
is to disregard the trees that are too small or too poor for sawlogs. Forests growing
on land that has never been cultivated are uneven-aged and generally have a wide
range of diameters.

Merchantability

After two decades of cutting by small sawmills, which are especially efficient
in gleaning small patches of timber, only a small part of the forested area in the
Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia still bears good stands of sawtimber. The one-
quarter acre sample plots were classed as sawtimber if they contained a minimum
volume per acre of 1,000 board feet (International one-quarter inch kerf rule) in pine
trees that measured nine inches or over in diameter at breast height. Sawtimber
stands of this volume are merchantable in the Region. This does not mean, however,
that all plots so designated can be profitably harvested, since most of the sawtim-
ber stands are small in area and widely scattered. About half the plots in each
forest type that included pine contained 1,000 board feet or more. Tablet shows the
distribution of sawtimber plots by types for each of the six sample areas. Much of
the sawtimber that has a sale value at present is in small scattered patches where
logging is difficult and comparatively expensive even with small sawmills. No at-
tempt is made to give an estimate of the total volume of timber in this region,
since the available data are not sufficient to make an accurate estimate.

Density

For old field pine stands, which represent the major part of the forested area,
an additional classification was made on the basis of the density of stocking. Stands
were classified into three density classes: Well stocked (at least 50 percent of full
stocking), medium stocked (25 to 50 percent of full stocking), and poorly stocked
(less than 25 percent of full stocking). Table 1 shows the distribution of one-quarter
acre plots by the three degrees of density for old field stands in the six sample
areas. The plots were almost equally divided among the three density classes. Large-
sized areas of well-stocked stands are not common in the Lower Piedmont Region where
the forests, generally, are understocked.

The outstanding reasons why the forests in this region are poorly stocked are
the inadequate number of seed trees and the prevalence of fire. Many of the abandoned
fields are too remote from forested areas with seed trees. But even in the natural
forest area stocking is generally low because most of the trees of seed-producing size
have been logged. Much of the reproduction is killed by fire. According to the one-

- 6 -

quarter acre plot samples, about 14.8 percent of the forest area burned over in 1932.
Fires are usually due to the negligence of brush -burners, hunters, or campers, although
an occasional incendiary may deliberately fire the woods.

Erosion, too, plays its part in preventing adequate stocking. Wherever aban-
doned lands have eroded so badly that their fertile top soil has been washed away and
gullies have been formed, even the pines may find it difficult to establish naturally
a forest of adequate stocking. The moist, sandy gully bottoms are ideal seed-beds for
pine, but erosion there may be so active that the pine cannot become established.
Steep gully banks are difficult sites for reforestation; but wherever erosion is not
too rapid and pine seed trees are located nearby, the eroded areas may be naturally
reforested. New stands of this type, however, may be somewhat uneven-aged, for the
better sites will be seeded first, whereas the poorer sites may not be reforested until
the first trees of the new stand, together with other vegetation, have further checked
the erosion.

Additional Areas Available for Forests

Other areas, in addition to the land classed as actual forest, will be available
for forest growth if the better lands alone are to be used for agricultural purposes.
These will include the land now lying idle and generally abandoned because of serious
erosion, steep slope, or infertile soil. Forty percent of the open land in both the
sample areas and the strip across the state was found to be idle, and about 70 percent
of this idle land was classified as unfit for either agriculture or pasture- -that is,
it was suitable only for forests. Since 43 percent of the Lower Piedmont Region is
cleared land, and 40 percent of the cleared land is idle, about 17 percent of the en-
tire region is idle. If 70 percent of the idle land is suitable only for forests, then
about 12 percent of the total area of the region is idle land that should be added
to the present forest area (55.6 percent of the regional area) to make a total of about
68 percent of the Lower Piedmont Region in present or potential forests. In the above
discussion it is assumed that all of the land now being cultivated, as well as the
idle land that is suitable for cultivation or pasturage, will continue in that catego-
ry. The present federal program of removing submarginal land from agriculture, how-
ever, may increase still further the 68 percent of forest area in the region.

Volumes and Growth

Stand tables, volumes, and annual growth in volume in each of the six sample
areas were computed for each class of stand in each forest type. Volume in rough
cords was figured for the pine trees in the diameter classes 2, 4, 6, and 8 inches,
and the averages of the six sample areas show about 6 cords per acre in well stocked,
2.5 cords in medium stocked, and 1 cord in poorly stocked old field pine stands. De-
tails for all stands are given in table 2. Volumes and volume growth for the large
trees were computed differently. Since pine trees over 9 inches (d.b.h.) represent
the sizes commonly utilized for lumber, their volumes were computed in board feet
with the use of the International one-quarter inch kerf rule because this rule approx-
imates the volume that can be cut out at the mill.

The importance of good stocking of the forest is forcibly brought out by the
volumes and increments of three old field pine stands of different densities, which
are averages for the six sample areas. These volumes and increments are as follows;
Well stocked, 5,179 board feet volume, 493 board feet increment; medium stocked,
3,606 board feet volume, 338 board feet increment; and poorly stocked, 1,989 board
feet volume, 164 board feet increment. Details for each stand class are given in
table 3.

- 7 ■

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Total ^number of plots - 1441

Figure 2.

9

Old Field Pine Stand

Numerous mill scale studies have shown that pine trees below 13 inches
(d.b.h.) are commonly cut at a financial sacrifice; hence in considering sawtimber
volumes and increment for the region, this report includes only the trees over 13
inches. Volumes and increments by classes of stands were therefore computed on this
basis; for the old field stands cited above they are as follows: Well stocked, 2,670
board feet volume, 265 board feet increment; medium stocked, 1,763 board feet vol-
ume, 261 board feet increment; poorly stocked, 964 board feet volume, 143 board feet
increment. Details of all stands are shown in table 4.

Hardwoods are not a factor in old field stands. In the pine hardwood stands
along branches in the six sample areas, the average volumes of hardwoods and pines
in trees over 13 inches (d.b.h.) are 1,717 and 2,364 board feet respectively; the in-
crements, 86 and 94 respectively. Detailed volumes and volume growth for hardwoods
are given in table 5. In order to show the distribution of both pines and hardwoods
by diameter classes, stand tables for the various stand classes in the Jasper sample
area, taken as an example of the six sample areas, are given in tables 6 and 7. These
tables show that most of the trees are below sawtimber size.

Table 2. -- Volumes per acre in cords for pine trees under 9 inches, [d.b.h.)

Average

Class of stand

Jasper

Monroe

Wilkes A.

Wilkes P.

Meriwether

Morgan

volume

Old field pine:

Sawtimber

well-stkd.

4.25

5.93

5.04

Young

well-stkd. ,

4.75

6.80

3.08

Sawtimber
med. stkd.

2.25

2.46

2.68

Young

med. stkd.

2.11

3.23

2.89

Sawtimber
poorly stkd.

.68

.90

1.28

Young

poorly stkd.

1.42

1.15

1.40

Other than
old field pine:

Sawtimber
pine & hdwd.

1.21

0.00

.67

Young

pine & hdwd.

1.31

.50

.20

Sawtimber
up. pine

1.53

2.20

1.71

Young
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.14

.44

1.14

7.23

5.80

6.06

5.72

7.69

6.33

5.82

5.74

2.56

2.15

2.60

2.46

2.40

2.43

2.81

2.64

.95

.40

.98

.86

.44

1.48

.89

1.13

1.48

1.24

.87

.91

00

.96

.49

.71

2.31

4.56

1.74

2.34

1.42

2.18

1.08

1.07

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Table 5«. - Volumes and growth per acre for hardvrood trees over 13*% diameter breast height

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14

Table 7. -- Stand table for the Ja$per County area

Diameter

Pine and hardwood type

Upland pine type

Bottomland
hdwd, type

breast

height

Sawtimber

Young

Sawtimber

Young

All classes

Pine Hdwd.

Pine Hdwd.

Pine Hdwd.

Pine Hdwd,

hardwood

Number of trees per acre

2

24,00

118.67

16.92

109,23

32.00

76.00

11.43

62.86

132.42

4

17.33

57,34

15.39

53.84

14.00

32.00

12.86

37.15

83.45

6

21.33

33.33

18.46

36.93

22.00

26,00

31.49

50.36

8

5.33

17.34

6.16

24.62

6.00

10.00

21.38

10

5.87

6.40

1.23

4.62

2.00

4.00

5.15

5.94

12

4.80

3.20

1.23

7.99

5.20

5.60

.86

4.01

5.38

14

4.54

4.00

1.54

3.39

2.00

2.40

2.01

2.49

16

2.67

3.21

.62

2.78

1,20

2.40

1,44

3.45

18

1.33

2.40

.62

1.24

1.20

2.40

2.30

2,63

20

1.06

1.06

.93

2.00

1.20

2.00

1.68

22 & up

.53

.27

.62

1.60

3.20

4.87

2.10

Total

88.79

247.22

62.17

246.19

89.20

165.20

25.15

153.28

311.28

A few of the 1,441 sample plots taken on the strip survey show excellent volume
and yield, although nothing has been done consciously to assist this growth. Twenty
of these natural stands of optimum condition and productivity may give some idea of
the maximum yields that can be expected. Possibly these stands, which were found on
only a minute portion of the area, were growing upon only the very best sites; but
since they are natural stands, it may well be possible to grow forests somewhat com-
parable to them if careful forest management is practiced upon average sites. The
best one-quarter acre plot had a volume of 47,704 board feet per acre at 77 years
from seed, and the average of the 20 optimum plots had 20, 382 board feet per acre in
trees over 13 inches (d.b.h.) at 65 years. Unless the general poor quality of the
material is considered, however, all sawtimber volume and growth figures for this
region may be misleading. Excessively limby trees and other trees of poor quality
are included in these figures because they are utilized in this region for boards, the
principal product. Only a very small percent of the stumpage will produce better
than Number 2 common boards of the Southern Pine Association specifications.

All increments take into consideration the increase in volume of sawtimber
trees, the increase due to trees growing into the minimum sawtimber diameter class,
and the trees lost annually through mortality. The annual mortality of pine in each
forest type by diameter classes, as found from a tally of dead trees on the one-quarter
acre plots, is given in table 8. It is generally one or two percent of the total num-
ber of trees per acre. The rate of diameter growth of pine in all stand classes is
quite rapid, but is especially so for old field pines up to about the 14 inch diameter
class, where, probably because of density, it falls off rapidly. The rate of diameter
increase is also less in the better stocked stands. A 10 inch old field pine, for ex-
ample, increases in diameter during a 5 year period as follows: In well stocked
stands, 2.05 inches; in medium stocked, 2.20 inches; and in poorly stocked, 2.50 inches.
Diameter growth by diameter classes and by classes of stands is given in table 9.

- 15 -

The effect of erosion upon the growth of forests is difficult to measure. When
forests reclaim eroded land, a long period of time elapses before the impoverished
soil is enriched with organic material. This period is affected greatly by fire. The
forest growth is further retarded until the soil is built up to a condition of fertili-
ty and good composition. Density and the many factors of site, however, are so in-
fluential in the rate of growth that it is difficult to establish the effect of erosion
alone upon forest growth.

Table 8. *- Annual mortality of pine in the six minple areas

Diameter

breast

height

Old field
pine type

Pine hard-
wood type

Upland pine
type

Inches

1

1 uf nuniuvi uj if [jvi

acre -----------------

2

1.2

0.5

0.6

1.0

1 . <1

1.8

6

1.8

2.2

2.2

8

1.8

2.5

2.2

10

1.7

2.4

2.2

12

1.6

2.4

2.2

14

1.4

2.3

2.2

16

1.2

2.2

2.2 ■

18

1.1

2.2

2.2

20

1.0

2.2

2.2 ..

22

.9

2.2

2.2

24

.9

2.1

2.2

26

.9

2.1

2.2

28

.9

2.1

2.2

30

2.0

2.2

- 16 -

Table 9. -- Diameter growth [wood and ba?’k) of pine 5 year period, Jasper County sample area

Diameter

Old field loblolly pine

Old

field shortleaf pine

breast

height

Well

stocked

Medium

stocked

Poorly

stocked

Well

stocked

Medium

stocked

Poorly

stocked

Inches

2

2.55

2.80

2.80

1.50

1.65

2.00

4

2.75

2.90

3.00

1.55

1.65

2.00

6

2.70

2.70

2.90

1.40

1.65

1.85

8

2.45

2.45

2.80

1.30

1.50

1.70

10

2.05

2.20

2.50

.95

1.30

1.40

12

1.65

1.75

2.20 , ,

.75

.95

1.05

14

1.30

1.40

1.85

.65

.85

.95

16

.85

1.10

1.65

.40

.75

.75

18

.55

.85

1.40

.40

.60

.75

20

.45

.75

1.40

.40

.60

.70

Diameter

Pine -hardwood type

Upland pine type

breast

Loblolly

Shortleaf

Loblolly

Shortleaf

height

pine

pine

pine

pine

Inches

2

1.85

1.00

1.55

1.00

4

1.90

1.00

1.50

1.00

6

1.90

1.00

1.50

.95

8

LOO

1.00

1.45

.95

10

1.90

1.00

1.45

.95

12

1.90

1.00

1.45

.90

14

1.90

1.00

1.45

.90

16

1.90

.95

1.40

.90

18

1.85

.95

1.40

.90

, 20

1.75

.95

1.40

.90

22

1.65

.95

1.40

. - .90

- 17 •

FOREST INDUSTRIES

Lumbering

< ' ■

Small mills have sawn nearly all the timber that has ever been cut in the
Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia. Since the beginning of the V/orld War, when many
of these small sawmills began cutting, the principal product has been pine boards or
"roofers", although small quantities of pine and hardwood dimension have also been
cut, chiefly for local consumption. "Roofers", a trade name given to the pine boards,
generally infers total millrun, which is mainly Number 2 common pine boards.

The usual lumbering set-up in this region consists of a planing mill and con-
centration yard, located in a town upon a main line railroad; and of several small
sawmills in the woods, which cut and deliver the rough lumber to the planer. The
sawmills, or "peckerwoods" as they are commonly called, are easily moved about to
cut scattered tracts of timber. Both steam- and tractor-powered outfits are found.
Their cut in an average day’s run is from 3,000 to 10,000 feet board measure. At a
steam sawmill (slightly larger than the average), cutting 7,000 feet board measure
per day, eight men did the logging; eight others, the sawing; and three men, employed
half time, hauled the rough lumber 14 mi les to the concentration yard. Approximately
one-third man-days were required at the planer per thousand feet planed and loaded
on cars. A total of about 2.5 ten-hour man-days, or about 3 eight-hour days were re-
quired to produce 1,000 feet of "roofers."

The industry was active in 1929, and common wages in the sawmill wei*e about
$1.25 to $1.50 per day for common laborers, and $3,00 to $4,00 for the sawyer. "Roofers"
sold for about $17.50 per thousand board feet. Second-growth pine stumpage sold for
$2.50 to $3.50 per thousand board feet; virgin timber, for $5.00.

Sawmills in this section were operating less in 1932 than in any other year
since the World War, "Roofers" sold at this time for an average price of about $7.50
per thousand board feet, loaded in cars; wages at the sawmills were generally, 50^ to
60^ per ten-hour da3" for common labor and $1.50 for the sawyers. (At this time many
farm laborers received from $5.00 to $7.00 per month, ‘ without board). Pine stumpage,
on the basis of mill tally, sold for $1.00 to $2.00 per thousand board feet. At the
operation previously outlined, the planing mill or concentration yard bought the
timber stumpage for $1.00 per thousand board feet lumber tally; and paid $3.50 per
thousand to a contractor for logging and sawing, and $1.50 per thousand for hauling
the rough lumber to the planer. Total cost to the planer was $6.00, leaving $1.50
for planing, loading, and selling. This work provided jobs, but very low wages and
very little profit.

As a result of the lumber industry’s having adopted the Code of Fair Compe-
tition in 1933, common wages are 24^ per hour, and Number 2 common boards have a
minimum price of about $20.00 per thousand board feet at the mill. Pine stumpage
is about $2.50 per thousand board feet. Since the Code became effective, wages have
been raised 380 percent above the low levels existing in 1932 and the first half of
1933. Because wages and salaries account for about 44 percent of the total manufac-
tured value of lumber and timber products for the entire southern pine industry,’ a
commensurate rise in the price of lumber was expected.

’Wackerman, A.E. and Spillers, A.R. "Labor Versus Machinery, etc.", Soiftherii
Lumhermun^ 46 (1853): 21-23, .June 1933.

- 18 -

In January 1934, 220 sawmills in the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia were
allotted production quotas under the Lumber Code. The total allotment amounted to
14,128,000 board feet. Allowing three man-days for logging and manufacturing 1,000
board feet of lumber, the cutting of this allotment would have furnished 42, 384 man-
days of employment per month. If the allotment had been cut at a minimum wage of

$1.92 per eight-hour day (a certain percentage of the men, however, would have been

employed as skilled laborers at more than minimum wages), the wages paid out would
have totaled about $85,000 per month.

Fuelwood Production

Farmers sold large quantities of fuelwood in 1932 for consumption by small in-
dustries and homes. Although soft coal was cheap, many of the cotton gins, cotton-
seed mills, ice plants, and other industries used wood (the local product) to help the
farmers whose usual incomes were greatly depressed. One cotton-seed mill manager
stated that 10 cords of wood or 6 tons of bituminous coal were required to generate

power sufficient for crushing 20 tons of cotton-seed. With cordwood selling for $2,25

per cord and coal for $3.50 per ton, the cost of milling with fuelwood was only about
greater per ton of cotton seed. About 6 bales of cotton may be ginned per cord
of wood.

Cordwood in 4-foot lengths sold in 1932 for $1.50 to $2.50 per cord, an average
price of $2.00 delivered in town. This price allowed 50^ per cord for cutting, $1.25
for hauling, and 25^' for stumpage. Fireplace wood in IJ- and 2-foot lengths sold for
about $3.00; stovewood in 14- inch lengths sold for about $4.00 per cord. Approximate-
ly 1.5 man-days are required for cutting a cord of stovewood, while one man-day is
needed for fireplace wood. An average of 12 cords of wood are used annually on the
farms for heating and cooking purposes. A few posts and sawlogs also are cut occa-
sionally for farm home needs.

Other Wood-using Industries

Only small quantities of wood are used for purposes other than lumber or fuel.
A mill at Monti cello, Georgia, manufactures bobbins and shuttles, but the raw material
is shipped in from other regions. Beech, birch, and hard maple are used for bobbins,
and dogwood and persimmon for shuttles. In 1929 this plant employed 45 people full
time at an average wage of $2.00 per day, but in 1932 it operated only two- thirds of
the time with 25 people, each of whom received about $1.25 per day.

A small volume of white and red oak stumpage in trees of merchantable size
occurs in scattered tracts, usually along the branches. If this timber is sound and
is 18 inches or larger in diameter, it is suitable for staves for tight cooperage. In
1932, a limited number of staves, to be used in the manufacture of barrels for beer,
wine, and whiskey, were prepared in this region for the export trade. They were hand-
rived by a crew of three men, who cut from 200 to 250 staves per day. Although four
different sizes are made, the bolts, when dry, are usually 4J inches wide, 2 inches
thick, and 4 feet long. White oak staves sold f.o.b. for 10,^ each and red oak staves
for 7^ each; about 40 percent of this price was said to have been paid for stumpage.
Great impetus has been given to the production of staves since the repeal of the
Eighteenth Amendment, so that prices and wages have risen accordingly. The stumpage
volume of high quality oak, however, is so small that it prevents a widespread de-
velopment of the oak-stave industry in this region.

The forest resources of the region, if properly managed, could no doubt support
additional wood-using industries. These industries would have to depend for some

■ 19 -

time upon poor qualitj^ second-growth timber, but with forest management the quality
and quantity could be greatly improved and increased.

FINANCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF FOREST MANAGEMENT
IN PRESENT FOREST STANDS

Present Production of Forests

The preceding chapters have shown that about two- thirds of the total forest
area of the Lower Piedmont Region is in old field pine stands, and that most of these
stands are understocked and composed of a poor quality of timber. The same is true
of other than old field stands. This deficiency of good sawtimber is owing chiefly
to the fact that farmers have been forced to strip their forest lands of salable tim-
ber when farm crops have failed to yield the necessary cash requirements. The small
number of wood-using industries and the small volume of lumber cut in the region at
present, as compared to the very active lumber industry during the late 1920 ’s, are
the direct effects of this scarcity of sawtimber.

Forest management under these circumstances does not promise immediate profits
of much consequence. In order to obtain satisfactory profits in forest management,
the growing stock in large trees (17 inches and over d.b.h.) must be built up. More-
over, the quality of the timber must be improved by increasing the density of stands.
Such improvements can be attained in future stands by protecting the abundant natural
reproduction against fire and by limiting the cut to only the largest sawtimber trees
and the poor quality trees. Hardwoods, which come in after cutting, aid materially
in naturally pruning the pines and in improving the site.

Estimated Future Yields oF Forests Under Management

Since it is impossible to account for the many factors that may influence vol-
ume growth, the prediction of future yields of forests under management for longer
than 5 or 10 year periods, even though it be based on the most careful measurements
of growth and mortality, cannot be accurate. The increment of well stocked sawtimber
stands is a fair indication of what can be expected from the understocked stands after
they have been built up under forest management. But even the well stocked saw-
timber stands of this region are at present understocked in the large diameter classes;
hence their average yearly increment of 265 board feet per acre in the six sample
areas is low. The yearly increment in this class of stand in the Wilkes Pistol sample
area was 432 board feet per acre. The average volume per acre of twenty of the best
stocked mature timber plots taken on the line plot survey in the region was 20,383
board feet (International one-quarter inch kerf rule) in trees over 13 inches (d.b.h.)
The average age of these stands was 65 years, but the present annual increment was
not determined. Judging by these data, it is not unreasonable to expect average vol-
umes of at least 10, 000 board feet per acre in sawtimber trees, and annual increments
of at least 500 board feet per acre after the stands have been built up under inten-
sive sustained yield management. Such an increase in volume will materially improve
the quality of the material, and these two factors will in turn greatly increase the
value of the yield.

- 20 -

Regulated Cutting

Little thought is given at present to the growing of crops of timber in this
region, where the forest has always been exploited. In planning forest management,
the owner’s immediate financial requirements must be considered; but the conserva-
tion of capital values should not be lost sight of. The cut must be limited to the
annual growth if a sustained yield or a perpetual income from forest property is de-
sired; and the forest growing stock must be built up to include a proper distribution
of tree sizes, so that as the large, old trees are cut, smaller and younger ones grow
up to take their places. Most of the stands in this region are made up chiefly of
trees below sawtimber size which, if properly managed, will have a much greater an-
nual growth, or increment, in a few years than they have now. The quality of the
timber can be improved by cutting out undesirable trees; besides, the land owners need
a current cash income. For these reasons, during the next 5 or 10 years it would be
desirable to cut the increment of sawtimber 13 inches and over (d.b.h.), but the cut
should not exceed this increment.

Numerous studies have shown that large trees not only yield more valuable for-
est products than small ones, but also that they cost less per unit to log and saw.
It is essential that the growing stock of the present forests be built up so that fi-
nancially mature trees can furnish the current yield and provide for future cuts. A-
long with harvest cutting of sawtimber trees, stand improvement work should be carried
on to improve the growing stock. Trees not suited for future growth, such as rough
trees, large over-topping trees, and thinning material, should be removed if their re-
moval will pay for itself.

A selection system of cutting, under which groups of trees as well as single
trees are removed, is suitable for both old field and natural forest stands in this
region. Although stands can be cut over annually, it is usually more economical to
cut once every 5 or 10 years in order to get a heavier cut per acre. Inventories al-
most invariably show that stands are better stocked in the small diameter classes
than in the sawtimber sizes, and that natural reproduction comes in abundantly. The
allowable cut of sawtimber volume depends upon stand increment. In determining this
allowable cut, however, only the increment of trees over 13 inches (d.b.h.) need be
considered, since these are the trees that will be removed either in the present cut
or in a later one. The annual cut should not exceed the sum of the net current growth
of these trees on all parts of an ownership.

In order to determine the annual growth, or increment, of the stand, it is
necessary to determine the diameter growth, and then to apply this diameter growth
to the trees in the stand. The volume of the present stand subtracted from the vol-
ume of the stand after one year’s growth (in diameter and height) gives the volume
growth for one year. The farm woodland owner or other woodland owner may require
the assistance of the State Forester or the State Extension Foresters in making these
calculations. If such assistance is not available, the application of the annual vol-
ume growth found and reported in this bulletin for stands similar to those under con-
sideration may be made without serious error. The annual growth of sawtimber (trees
13 inches and over d.b.h.) found in this region amounts roughly to 10 percent of the
board foot volume in old field pine stands and 5 percent in other stands. If the land-
owner, in determining the allowable cut, applies these percentages to the volume in
his stands, and then limits the cut to high grade sawtimber trees (17 inches and over
d.b.h.) and to other trees that should be removed to improve the stand, he will be
handling his timber in a manner consistent with good forestry practices.

- 21 -

Large forest properties should be subdivided into permanent management units.
The trees should be carefully selected and marked before cutting. Sufficient high
quality large trees should be taken in the first cut to obtain a fair income, but the
aim should be to leave the most valuable species and the best formed trees so that
productivity in quantity and quality might be built up and the largest future earnings
assured. The present market for stumpage utilizes poor quality field timber. When
marking for sustained yield on large forest properties, a tally should be made of all
trees 13 inches and larger (d.b.h.) that are to be cut, and a separate tally of those
trees over 13 inches that are to remain. The first tally will make sure that the
marking does not include a volume exceeding the present increment; the second tally
will indicate the approximate future increment and cut. The cost of such marking and
inventory runs about $0.05 per thousand board feet in fairly well stocked sawtimber
stands, or about $0.20 per acre. Between 40 and 60 acres can be covered by a crew
of three or four men in an eight-hour day.

Fire Protection

Fire control is one of the first requirements of forest management. The line
plot surveys in the six sample areas showed that 14.8 percent of the forest leind burned
over in 1932. On small holdings, such as a farm woodland, fire protection may mean
nothing more than constant vigilance and the prompt extinction of fire when it does
occur. Large properties, however, require a carefully planned detection system of
well -placed look-out towers, a well organized system of fire and telephones lines,
and a thoroughly trained detection and suppression force. Intensive protection of
large areas has been found to cost about $0.05 per acre per year.

Planting

While natural reproduction can be depended upon where seed trees are now pre-
sent, certain areas of idle land and cut-over areas lack seed trees and therefore re-
quire planting in order to produce a forest. Approximately 40 plantations of forest
trees were visited in 1933 in the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia. The oldest
loblolly pine plantation was established in the spring of 1927. After 6J growing
seasons the survival was over 95 percent; the average height, 19 feet; and the maxi-
mum height, 21 feet. Some of the trees measured 5 inches or slightly more in dia-
meter at breast height. The oldest slash pine plantations visited were established
in 1931. After 2J growing seasons the average height of the slash pines was 2 to 4
feet; the maximum height, about 6 feet. The oldest black locust plantation was
planted in 1923. On a poor site this species had a survival of 98 percent, a maximum
height of 40 feet, and a maximum diameter at breast height of 6 inches.

Additional information on plantations may be obtained from the data shown in
table 2 in the Appendix. In general, the following conclusions may be drawn:

1. - Loblolly and slash pines have been the most favored species for planting;
but longleaf pine, black locust, yellow poplar, and red cedar are sometimes used.

2. - Plantations are generally established upon old fields, and the area in plan-
tations of individual ownership is usually about 1 to 10 acres; some are 20 acres or
larger. The planting sites are often eroded slopes upon which the soil is poor and
the drainage excessive.

3. - The trees were usually set in February at 6-foot intervals in plowed furrows
spaced about 8 feet apart. Spacings 6x6 and 6x7 feet were also found.

- 22 -

4. - The cost of establishing plantations was extremely low because the stock
was furnished usually by the Georgia State College of Forestry at Athens for $1.50
to $2.50 per thousand, and most of the planting work was done by farm labor at $0.50
per day. Total cost was about $2.00 to $3.00 per acre.

5. ■ Survival was good in most of the plantations studied, even though some were
upon poor, dry, eroded sites. The greatest survival percent was often found where
the vegetation was sparse and where sheet erosion had removed much of the top soil.
The fastest growth was often found in the bottom of the washes or shallow gullies,
probably because greater moisture is available there than upon the slopes. Good sur-
vival but relatively poor growth were found in deep gullies and on steep slopes.
Seedlings could not survive at all in the few places where erosion was most active,
unless grasses and other vegation helped the trees to arrest it and protected the
seedlings from washing out or silting over.

6. - Loblolly pine and black locust seem to give the most satisfactory results
in planting. Mixed rather than pure plantings of these species are the more satis-
factory; for in managing mixed stands, it is possible to harvest the locust for posts
after 13 years, thus leaving thinned the remaining stand of pine. Insect pests attack
both species: the tip moth, the pine; and the locust borer, the black locust. What
little damage they caused in this region, however, was confined to pure, densely
planted stands.

7. - Although this region is north of the natural range of slash pine, that species
may prove excellent for planting purposes. Slash pine plantations established here
to date are not yet old enough to prove the feasibility of planting that species; but
after two growing seasons it was making excellent growth even upon poor, dry sites.
Slash pine, 3^ellow poplar, red cedar, and other species should not be planted in large
tracts until the present plantations or subsequent small ones are old enough to demon-
strate the adaptability of these species to different sites. Although no plantations
of shortleaf pine were found (possibly because it is not as favored as some of the
more rapidly growing species), this species is adapted to growing upon the poor sites
of the region, and its hardiness makes it valuable for erosion control and for lumber
or pulpwood production.

Taxes

Taxes must be paid each year whether or not the cleared land or the woodland
produces an income. The assessors do not, as a rule, recognize the timber volume
present in the stand. According to a study of this region made by the Bureau of
Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture, cultivated, idle, and forest
land are assessed identically for real estate taxes. The two main factors that govern
the evaluation of land are the buildings and other improvements, and the availability
of good roads. The rates of assessment and taxes per acre were found to vary some-
what in different counties; they also varied as to the owner’s residence and the size
of his property. Table 10 shows the assessed value and taxes per acre, as obtained
by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics for each of the five counties in which sample
units were studied, in relation to residence of owners and to size of holdings, as
well as the averages for the five counties.

This study of taxes and ownership in the Piedmont Region shows that 80 percent
of the total area of the region is held by owners that reside in the county in which
their land lies, or in the countj^ adjacent thereto; that 16 percent is held by owners
that reside in the state, but outside the count}'^ or adjacent county; and that 6 percent
is held by owners that reside outside the state. Land belonging to residents outside

- 28 -

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- 24 -

Table 1C. - Assessed value sad taxes per acre ia five counties in the Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia

the state is usually assessed slightly more than that of residents living on or near
their properties. The study also showed the following percentages of total area fall-
ing in each size of holding:

Ac/^es Percent of total area

2 - 49

2.9

50 - 174

25.7

175 - 499

32.9

500 - 999

16.8

1,000 - 1,999

11.4

2,000 & over

10.3

Per-acre assessments for large properties seem to be a little less than those
for small ones.

Financial Possibilities of Farm Woodlands

Farm woodlands in the Lower Piedmont Region contribute to the cash income
from the farm; they also furnish the fuel supply for the home, and the fence posts
and other wood products needed for farming. In order to show present forest condi-
tions, increment, and financial possibilities of farm woodlands in the Lower Pied-
mont Region, a typical farm mapped in the Meriwether sample area has been selected.
A study of size of ownership made in 1932 by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, revealed that the 175 to 499 acre class contained
the largest acreage of farm land in this county, as well as in the whole region. The
farm selected has a total area of 297 acres, of which 230 are forested and 17 are idle
land, suitable for forests but not for agriculture. Cultivated land makes up 37 acres;
idle land suitable for agriculture, 13 acres. The forest woodland is made up of the
following classes of stands: Sawtimber old field pine, 88 acres; young old field pine,
72 acres; pine hardwood type along the branches, 32 acres; upland pine type on a ridge,
18 acres; and bottomland hardwood along the creek, 20 acres. (For definitions of
types and classes of stands, see pages 5 to 7). The proportion of area in each class
approximates that found in the Meriwether sample area closely enough to render the
farm a good example of the sample area as a whole. The areas occupied by stands
of different densities in old field stands, and by sawtimber and young stands in the
pine types other than old field, could not be mapped because they are too closely
intermingled. These areas on the farm were derived by applying the same proportions
of each as those determined by the line plot survey on the sample unit. Table 11
shows the area of each class of stand in the farm woodland.

The merchantable pines in all types range from 13 inches to about 20 or 22
inches but the majority are in the lower diameters. Many of these trees are limby
and of poor quality, especially in the old field pine stands. Pines growing with hard-
woods in natural forest stands are of much better quality.

Table 11 applies volumes and annual increments found in the Meriwether sample
area to the stands in the farm woodlands. This table shows a total annual increment
of 22,670 board feet of pine and 5, 613 board feet of hardwoods in trees over 13 inches
(d.b.h.). The annual increment in well stocked old field pine sawtimber stands is
237 board feet of pine per acre, whereas that of poorly stocked old field stands is
97 board feet of pine. Sawtimber stands in the pine hardwood type have an annual
volume growth per acre of 139 board feet of pine and 105 board feet of hardwood;
those in the upland pine type, 120 board feet of pine and 39 board feet of hardwood.
Bottomland hardwoods, from which most of the merchantable trees have been cut, are

- 2S -

Table 11. - Areas, volumes, and annual increment of sawtimber over 13", diameter breast height, in

farm woodland in the Meriwether sample area

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- 26

annually growing only 50 board feet per acre. These per-acre sawtiraber volumes in-
dicate that the growing stock is low. The maximum volume of pine, 3,339 board feet
per acre, occurs in well stocked old field stands. If properly stocked, this stand
should have more than double that volume of sawtimber. Virtually all stands need to
be built up, especially in the larger diameters.

The total cut in this farm woodland during the next 5 years should not exceed
the present annual increment. With the majority of the trees in the small diameter
classes, this annual increment would thereby increase during the 5 year period, so
that by holding the cut at the present increment the stand itself would increase.
Moreover, in cutting this increment, as much of the cut as possible should come from
poor quality trees that are not desirable for future growth. As many high quality
trees as possible should be left for future cuts, but in order to obtain sufficient
volume the largest trees of both high and low quality must be taken. One reason for
leaving the high quality trees for a future cut is that owing to the large percentage
of present sale volume in low quality lumber, no price distinction is made in favor
of higher quality products. The price commonly paid for stumpage is about $2.50 for
pine and $2.00 for hardwoods, measured in lumber stacked after sawing. The total
value of the allowable cut of sawtimber, which equals the present increment, is there-
fore $56.68 for pine stumpage and $11.23 for hardwood stumpage. Table 12 gives the
value of the present annual increment of sawtimber for each class of stand. This
value varies from $0.59 per acre for well stocked old field pine sawtimber stands to
$0.24 per acre for those that are poorly stocked. The value of the annual increment
of sawtimber pine-hardwood stands is $0.35 per acre for pine stumpage and $0.21 for
hardwood stumpage, a total of $0.56. In upland pine sawtiraber stands, the per acre
value of annual pine increment is $0.30; that of hardwood, $0.08. As volume and
quality of timber improve, correspondingly these values will increase. Owners can
augment their cash income by doing their own logging and by selling the logs at the
roadside or at the sawmill.

The first cut of sawtimber, designed to remove 28,283 board feet of pine and
hardwood, should cover one-fifth of the sawtimber areas. Where sawtimber and young
stands are intermingled, however, as in the pine-hardwood and upland pine types, it
will be necessary to cover one-fifth of the total area of these types. Table 13 gives
the areas, volumes, and stumpage values included in this first cut of sawtiraber. Each
cut made annually during the succeeding four years will cover an area and remove a
volume of wood about equal to those of the first cut, thus completing at the end of
five years the first cutting cycle, during which all sawtimber stands will have been
cut over. During several subsequent cutting cycles, approximately the same volumes
will be cut from the same areas; but inasmuch as the stands are meanwhile building
up, especially with more trees of sawtimber size and quality, eventually both the vol-
ume of the annual cut and the area covered can be increased. Volumes of future cuts,
made each 5 years in stands that have been grown under management, should, on a per-
acre basis, equal at least the 5 years’ increment of present well stocked stands; these
volumes will probably amount to between 2,000 and 2,500 board feet per acre.

Table 13 also shows the quantity of fence posts and fuelwood that can be cut
from tops of sawtimber trees and from improvement cuttings and thinnings. The vol-
ume of fuelwood available from tops of sawtimber trees amounts, approximately, to
one-quarter cord of pine and one-half cord of hardwood per 1,000 board feet of pine
and hardwood saw logs respectively; an equal proportion is available from trees re-
moved in stand improvement, thus making a total cut of one-half cord of pine and one
cord of hardwood to 1,000 board feet of pine and hardwood. Only 27 acres, or 37.5
percent of the entire 72 acres in the young stands of old field pine, are stocked suf-
ficiently to need a thinning. If one-fifth of the total area in young stands, (14.4

- 27 -

acres) is covered the first year, then only 37.5 percent, (5.4 acres) is dense enough
to thin. In order to liberate crop trees, which will make up future sawtimber cut,
about one cord of fuelwood and 10 fence posts per acre will be cut as thinnings from

Table 12. -- Volume and stuinpage value of annual increment of sawtimber over 13 inches, d.b.h.. in

a farm woodland in the Meriwether sample area

Class of stand

Area

Annual increment per acre

Volume

’ Value

Pine

Hardwood

Pine’ 1 Hardwood^

Total

^ c <5

DOuru

/Ctrl

• " ■ uoiiiXf o - - -

Old field

pine type:

Sawtimber

■- ■ ■

well -stocked

40

237

.59

.59

Sawtimber

med. stocked

35

185

.46^^

.46

Sawtimber

poorly stocked 13

97

.24

.24

Young

well-stocked

27

15

*

.04

.04

Young

med. stocked

21

17

.04

.04

Young

poorly stocked 24

10

o

to

.02

Pine hard-

wood type:

Sawtimber

24

139

105

.35 .21

.56 ’

Young

8

29

145

.07 .29

.36

Upland

pine type:

Sawtimber

7

120

39

.30 .08

.38

Young

11

4

60

.01 .12

.13

Bottomland

hardwoods

20

50

.10

.10

' Pine stumpage at $2.50 per thousand board feet.
^Hardwood stumpage at $2.00 per thousand board feet.
^ International l/4-inch kerf rule.

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3/ International I

the 5.4 acres. From the 4 acres in the bottomland hardwoods that are being cut for
sawtimber, 25 hardwood fence posts per acre will be cut from low quality trees. This
cut of fuelwood and fence posts can probably be maintained in future cuts. At pre-
sent there is no market for pulpwood in this region; and because of the low value of
fuelwood, the labor cost of producing it virtually equals its present sale value. The
owner of this farm will use 12 of the 22 cords of fuelwood cut; he can sell the re-
maining 10 cords for about $2.00 per cord delivered. If he hires a wood cutter, he
will come out even; but if he cuts and delivers the wood himself, he will receive
$20.00 for his efforts.

The owner of this farm woodland can therefore place it under sustained yield
management without spending any cash over and above his present expenditures. His
annual taxes amount to about $0.14 per acre as usual; but his fire protection cost
amounts to nothing more than an average of 3 days a year spent in fighting fires that
threaten his property. By educating his neighbors concerning fire damage he can even
reduce that cost.

Before cutting, the different classes of stands should be subdivided into 5
areas, each of about the same acreage, and boundaries should be blazed out. The cut
for the first year would then be limited to one area in each class of stand. Sub-
dividing will require of the farmer and his helper about three days’ time. Three
more days’ time of two men, including two- thirds of a day with a truck, will be re-
quired to cut and haul 5.4 cords and 54 fence posts, the thinnings from 5.4 acres scat-
tered over 14.4 acres. These thinnings should remove only the trees that are crowding
out the previously selected crop trees, spaced from 10 to 15 feet apart. An addi-
tional day’s work for two men will be required to cut and deliver the 100 hardwood
posts from the bottomlands. Two men will need about two days to mark the trees for
harvest and improvement cuttings, and to take an inventory of sawtimber trees on the
31.6 acres to be covered the first year. Technical help in marking can be obtained
by applying to the State and Extension Foresters. The purchaser of the 28,283 board
feet of stumpage will require approximately the following men, equipment, and time
for logging and hauling: Two men felling and bucking for 7 days; one man and team
loading for 7 days; and one man and truck hauling for 7 days. The farmer and his
helper can then come in after the logging and cut the discarded tops, as well as the
trees they intend to fell for improvement cuttings, into fuelwood; this work will re-
quire 5 days and will produce 16.9 cords of fuelwood. The two men will need two
more days to deliver 10 cords to town and 6,9 cords to the farm house.

This farm has 17 acres of idle land, unfit for agriculture, which should be
planted to loblolly, black locust, and a few miscellaneous species. It is proposed
to plant one-fifth of the area, or 3.4 acres, during the first of the five years. Seed-
lings can be purchased from the State at about $2.00 per thousand. If planted about
6x7 feet, or 1,000 to the acre, the area will require 3,400 seedlings at a total cost
of $6.80. To plant an acre with this spacing requires about 1.5 man-days, or 5.1 man-
days for the 3.4 acres. The farmer can do this work himself. Table 14 shows the de-
tailed possibilities of such a plantation.

The following outline shows the operations, with costs and incomes, which the
owner will carry out in putting the farm woodland under sustained yield management.

1. Subdivision of woodland into 5 areas, one of which is to be cut each year.

(a) Cost: 3 days’ time of 2 men, or 6 man-days. This is not an annual re-
quirement; it is done only once.

{b) Income: None.

- 30 -

2. Inventory and marking of trees to be cut in the first cutting area of 31.6
acres.

(a) Cost: 2 days’ time of 2 men, or 4 man-days.

(/)) Income: None.

Table 14. -- Costs and returns per acre from pt anting

Date

Work

Cost

Stumpage

returns

' ' 1935 or
first year

Plant 1000 trees 6x7 feet in mixtures
generally involving 400 black locust, 400
loblolly, and 200 miscellaneous, including
shortleaf, red cedar, and yellow poplar.

Planting
labor 1§
man-da3^s;
planting
stock $2.

1945 or
tenth year

Survival is 80^ and trees average 3 inches
at d.b.h. Thin, leaving 500 trees per acre
(200 locust, 200 loblolly pine, 100 mis-
cellaneous).

1 man-day
per acre.

1955 or
20th year

Allowing for mortality and growth there
will be 450 trees averaging 6 inches. Thin
by removing the 180 remaining locust. 270
trees are left.

180 locust trees
or 360 posts.

1965 or
30th year

Allowing for mortality and growth there
will be 240 trees with an average size of
10 inches. Cut 140 trees leaving 100.

140 trees aver-
aging 50 ft. b,
m. per tree, or
7000 at $2.00
per M - $14,00,

1985 or
50th year

Allowing for mortality and growth there
will be 90 trees with an average size of
17 inches. Cut 60 trees leaving 30.

60 trees aver-
aging 270 ft. b.
m. per tree, or
16,200 at $4.00
per M - $64.80.

1988 or
, 53rd year

Cut the remaining 30 trees averaging 18
inches. In last three years natural young
growth will have become established at no
cost.

30 trees aver-
aging 310 ft. b.
m. per tree, or
9,300 at $4.00
per M - $37,20

Taxes for 53 years at $.14 per acre

(without interest)

$7,42

Total in 53 years

Net income per year (without interest)

$9.42

$116.00

$2.01

- 31 -

3. Sale of sawtiraber stumpage from 31.6 acres.

(a) Cost: None.

(M Income: 22,670 board feet of pine stumpage at $2.50 per thousand board
feet; 5, 613 board feet of hardwood stumpage at $2.00 per thousand board
feet- -a total cash income of $67.91.

4. Thinning of young stands on 14.4 acres of old field pine.

(a) Cost: 3 days’ time of 2 men, or 6 man-days; and use of a truck for two-
thirds of a day.

(If) Income: 5.4 cords of fuel wood used on the farm; 54 pine fence posts.

5. Improvement cuttings and cutting of tops into fuelwood on 31.6 acres.

(d) Cost: 8 days’ time of 2 men, or 16 man-days; and 2.5 days’ use of truck.

(/)} Income: 10 cords of wood sold for $20.00 cash; 6.9 cords of wood used
at the farm house; and 100 hardwood fence posts used on the farm.

6. Protection against fire of 230 acres of woodland and 17 acres of idle land to

be planted to forest trees.

(a) Cost: 3 days’ time of 1 man fighting fire, or 3 man-days.

(?>) Income: None.

7. Planting of 3.4 acres of idle land annually for 5 years.

(a) Cost: 3,400 seedlings at $2.00 per thousand - $6.80; 1.5 man-days per
acre, or 5.1 man-days.

(/>) Income: No income for about 20 j^ears, or until fence posts and fuelwood
may be cut.

8. Payment of taxes on 230 acres of woodland and 17 acres of idle land to be

planted to forest trees.

(a) Cost: $0.14 per acre, a total of $34.58 per year.

(/;) Income: None.

Since the farmer and his family can do most of the work required to put the
farm woodland under management, cash charges for labor need not he set up; on the
other hand, since many of the products cut are used on the farm rather than sold, cash
values need not be applied to them. The only cash costs are taxes, $34.58, and tree
seedlings, $6.80; the cash incomes are stumpage, $67.91, and fuelwood, $20,00. The
net cash income for the year considered is $87.91 less $41.38, or $46.53. The cost
of gasoline and depreciation against the truck are also to be considered, but the
farmer can often deliver his wood when making a necessaiT trip to town for another
purpose . I

If those annual activities of the owner that yield no incpine--.suGh as fire pro-
tection (3 man-days valued at $6.00); marking and inventory work (4 man-days valued
at $8.00); cutting and hauling the 10 cords of wood (time of men and truck valued at
820.00)--are charged against the income along with taxes and cost of pine seedlings,
then the net income is $87.91 less $75.38, or $12.53. It must he remembered, how-
ever, that the farm woodland has now been put into condition for more volume and
better quality growth. Unquestionably, the annual yield of stumpage fiom this for

- 32 -

est can be increased at least three, probably four or more times in volume, and still
more in value. If the farmer does his own logging and transports the logs to the saw-
mill, he will need 28 man-days of labor, 7 days’ use of his team, and 7 days’ use of
a truck; but he can obtain about $6.00 per thousand board feet for logs delivered at
the mill, or a total of $169.70 instead of $67.91, the present stumpage price.

In addition to these tangible values in timber products which the farm wood-
land provides, it also prevents serious erosion of land, serves as a pasture for live
stock and a habitat for wild game, and has important recreational value.

Financial Possibilities
OF Subsistence Homestead Community Forests

A subsistence homestead project has been proposed for Jasper County, Georgia.
A community forest has been considered as a part of this undertaking, and it is de-
sirable to know the financial possibilities of such a forest. In order to illustrate
these possibilities, a hypothetical 10,000-acre forest has been set up, which has the
same proportion of forest types, classes of stands, and idle land suitable onlj^ for
forests as were found in the Jasper County sample area (8,700 acres). The volumes,
annual increment, and other forest data found in this unit have also been adopted.
Cultivated land and idle land suitable for agriculture have not been considered for
forests, since they will be used for cultivation.!

This forest of 10, 000 acres is made up of 8, 670 acres of forests and 1,330 acres
of idle land, which is potential forest land as it is unsuitable for agriculture. It
consists of 5,980 acres of old field pine; 870 acres of pine and hardwoods that grow
along the second bottoms of the larger streams and along branches; 780 acres of pine
and hardwoods that grow on the ridges; and 1,040 acres of hardwoods in the bottom
lands of the larger streams. The potential forest land consists of abandoned fields
and pastures, which are unsuitable for agriculture because of erosion, steepness of
slope, or poor soil quality.

The areas, volumes, and annual increment of sawtimber of each class of stand
within the forest types are shown in table 15, (See pages 5 to 7 for definitions of
forest types and classes of stand; stand tables for each class of stand are shown in
tables 6 and 7). The total annual increment of sawtimber (trees over 13 inches,
d.b.h.) in present stands is 707, 330 board feet of pine and 352, 210 board feet of hard-
woods. It so happens that the present annual increments in the three classes of saw-
timber stands in the old field pine type do not vary greatly because the heavier den-
sities of the better stocked stands are in the small diameters, which do not enter
into the sawtimber increment at present. The maximum annual increment in old field
pine is 243 board feet per acre, and the maximum present volume of sawtimber is 2,852
board feet. Pine hardwood sawtimber stands have an annual increment of 122 board
feet of pine and 96 board feet of hardwood per acre on a volume of 1,805 board feet of
pine and 1,917 board feet of hardwoods. Upland pine sawtimber stands have an annual
increment of 83 board feet of pine and 117 board feet of hardwoods per acre, and a
volume of 2,584 board feet of pine and 2,343 board feet of hardwoods. Bottom hard-
woods are growing 162 board feet on a volume of 3,236 board feet. Almost all stands
are understocked in the sawtimber diameter classes, particularly the old field and
open stands, and much of their volume is in poor quality timber that will saw out no
better than Number 2 common boards.

To obtain an annual income and also to improve the stands so that they will
yield a larger volume of higher qualit}^ material, it is desirable to cover the entire
forest once each five .years, making thinnings, improvement cuttings, and harvest cut-

- 33 -

Table 15. - Areas, volumes, and annual increment of sawtimber over 13”, dianeter breast hei^t, in

community forest in Jasper county

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- 34 -

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tings. Approximately" one-fifth of the forest should be covered each year, and, in
order to distribute the work as evenly as possible over the five year period, approxi-
mately one-fifth of the area in each stand class should be included, but the area to
be cut should be blocked up as nearly as possible into one unit. Before beginning
the cut, the areas to be cut should be located on the ground and the trees should be
marked for cutting. A map based on aeroplane pictures that shows forest stand classes
for the entire county will be available within a year; it will be of great assistance
in planning and locating the cut on the property.

The total annual cut of sawtimber on one-fifth of the forest should not exceed
the total present annual increment of sawtimber on the whole property. Since much
of the growing stock is below sawtimber size, a . large part of which is approaching
sawtimber size, it is peraiissible to cut this present annual increment. Along with
the logging, a considerable volume of fuelwood can be cut from tops of sawtimber
trees and from trees cut in stand improvement. For every 1,000 board feet of pine
logs cut on this property, about one-quarter cord of fuelwood can be cut from tops
and another one-quarter cord from trees cut in stand improvement. Twice these a-
mounts can be cut, namely, one cord of fuelwood, per 1,000 board feet of hardwood
logs. On every four acres of bottomland hardwood, about 100 fence posts can be ob-
tained in addition to the fuelwood. Fence posts can be cut also in thinning young
stands of old field pine, but only one acre out of every three is dense enough to need
thinning. On those areas with dense stands it is estimated that one cord of fuelwood
and ten pine fence posts per acre will be cut in thinning. Table 16 shows the areas,
volumes, and stumpage values included in the first cut of sawtimber by forest types;
the number of fence posts and cords of fuelwood that will be cut from tops and in
improvement cuttings; the areas of young stands in old field pine to be thinned; and
the number of fence posts and cords of fuelwood to be cut.

The total annual cut of sawtimber, which is also the present sawtimber incre-
ment, is 707,330 board feet of pine and 352,210 board feet of hardwoods. Since the
present value of stumpage per thousand board feet is $2.50 for pine and $2.00 for
hardwoods, the total value of pine stumpage is $1,768; that of hadwood stumpage,
$704, But because one of the purposes of the subsistence homestead is to provide
employment, it is not likely that this stumpage will be sold; probably it will be
logged and manufactured into lumber by subsistence homesteaders, and possibly used
by them in building homes, barns, and other necessary buildings. About 3 man-days
of labor are required to produce 1,000 board feet of lumber; hence a total of 3,179
man-days would be required to cut the total volume. If the minimum lumber code wage
of about $2.00 per day is paid, $6.00 per thousand board feet of lumber, or a total
of $6,358 worth of labor, will have been provided. Wages make up about 50 percent
of the total lumbering costs; if a sum approximately equal to the cost of labor is
added for trucks, teams, depreciation of plants, and other overhead costs, the cost
of the lumber before adding stumpage costs is $12.00 per thousand, or $12,715 total.
The addition of the present current stumpage value of $2,472 brings the total cost
of the lumber to $15,187, which is approximately $14,33 per thousand board feet.

Subsistence homestead farmers will also cut 706 cords of fuelwood and 5,200
fence posts from tops and from trees removed in improvement cuttings. Two men can
cut approximately 3 cords of fuelwood or 150 fence posts per day, and 2 men with a
truck can haul about 10 cords of fuelwood or 500 fence posts per day from the woods
to the farm houses. To cut 706 cords of fuelwood, 471 man-days of labor are neces-
sary; to cut 5,200 fence posts, 69 additional uian-days are required. The hauling of
fuelwood and fence posts combined consumes 162 man-days, 141 for the fuelwood and
21 for the posts. The total man-days of labor necessary for cutting and hauling a-
mount to 702; at $2,00 per day, they represent $1,404 wages.

- 35 -

Table 16o - Annual cut of sawtimberp fence posts and fuelwood on a ooinmunity forest in Jasper County

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>3

o

cH

0

0

0 ^

0

o

'd

3

P

p

*0

0

0

P

0 fa

'd 0

0

o

P

♦H

Xf

p

0

P

cH

0

fH

•H ‘H

f-H 'iH

o

•H

p

ft

0

0

o

0

O

O

O

ft P

O P-.

ft

P

>*5

tD

0

0

ft

XJ

if

d)

0

ns

xi ^

u

cd

o a

xi

(Q

PJ
W P

0

R o

rH

0 o

Ph *

CV2 U

o

lO
• -p
W 0

u

4^

0

0 ..

UO

0 +5

&• w

w p

O *0

8)<
0 H
ft

H

C

o

•iH

•p

0

P

P

O

P

PJ

ft W M

'|c^ co|

II

36

The cutting and hauling of 221 cords of fuel wood and 2,210 pine fence posts
removed in thinning 662 acres requires 229 man-days, 191 for the fuelwood and 38 for
the posts; at $2.00 per day, this work involves a labor value of $458. To cut and
haul a cord of fuelwood costs about $2. 00- -$1.33 labor cutting, $0.40 labor hauling,
and $0.27 cost of the truck; the same cost for 100 fence posts is $4.00, or $2.67
labor cutting, $0.80 labor hauling, and $0.53 cost of the truck. For cutting and haul-
ing fuelwood and fence posts in this community forest, the farmers will probably be
reimbursed with fuelwood and fence posts at the cost price rate of $2.00 per cord for
fuelwood and $4.00 per 100 fence posts.

Man-days required to cut lumber, fence posts, and fuelwood in harvest, improve-
ment, and thinning cuttings during the first year total 4, 110; the value of this labor
is $8,220. Table 17 shows the distribution of labor in man-days, value of labor,
other costs, stumpage values, and amount of forest products cut by operations. Al-
though the lumber could probably be sold for an average price of $18.00 or $20.00 per
thousand board feet, it would doubtless be good policy to sell it to the homesteaders
at cost, $14.33 per thousand board feet, allowing credit for such labor as they con-
tribute. The other forest products could be sold on the open market for about the
cost of production, but they will probably be exchanged for labor contributed. The
only net income from the forest with which to meet taxes, administrative costs, and
other expenses is the stumpage value of the sawtimber cut- -$2,472. Spreading this
over 10,000 acres gives an annual income of about $0.25 per acre per year.

The annual costs on this community forest are for taxes, fire protection, in-
ventory and marking, administration, and planting. No costs for roads or other im-
provements are included because it is understood that the county and state will bear
costs of roads, and that workers on the forest will be housed on their subsistence
homestead farms. Table 18 shows the forest’s annual cost per acre and the total an-
nual cost of the various items of expense. Taxes in this county amount to $0,08 per
acre; the average cost of fire protection is $0.05 per acre. Possibly this forest can

Table 17. -- Maii-dajjfi, wages, stumpage values, and other costs of producing lumber, fuelwood, and

fence posts on a community forest in Jasper County, Georgia

Operation

Products

Amount

Man-days

required

Value

of

labor

Other

costs

Stumpage

value

Number

- Dollars -

Logging and ) Pine lumber

707,330 bri. ft.

2,122

4,244

4,244

1,768 ’

manufacturing) Hdwd. lumber

352, 210 bd. ft.

1,057

2,114

2,113

704 2

Improvement)

cutting and)

Fuelwood

706 cords

612

1,224

188

0

cutting of )

Fence posts

5, 200 pieces

90

180

28

0

tops )

Thinning

Fuelwood

221 cords

191

382

60

0

Fence posts

2, 210 pieces

38

76

12

0

Totals

4,110

8,220

6,645

2,472

Pine stumpage at $2.50 per thousand board feet.
^Hardwood stumpage at $2,00 per thousand board feet.

- 37 -

be organized with other land into a protection unit under the administration of the
State Forester; if so, the community forest would be charged only half of this pro-
tection cost. The inventory and marking would cover only that part of the forest to
be cut over, 1734 acres, and would include only those trees over 13 inches (d.b.h.).
The cost would average about $0.20 per acre. General administration of the forest,
which would be a part of that of the whole subsistence homestead, amounts to $0.02
per acre. The planting of one-tenth of the idle land, 133 acres, for each of 10 years
would cost about $5.00 per acre, including cost of seedlings and wages. The total
annual cost is $2,512, or approximately $0.25 per acre. This cost closely approxi-
mates the value of the stumpage cut, which is $2,472, based upon the current stumpage
values of pine and hardwood at $2.50 and $2.00 per thousand board feet respectively.
Five hundred and forty man-da3"s of labor would be provided by the different cost
items during the year: Fire protection, 200; inventory and marking, 100; administra-
tion, 40; and planting, 200.

iVs shown in the preceding paragraphs, the incomes and costs during the first
few years on the community forest will show neither profit nor loss. Although there
will be no surplus representing interest on the value of the forest investment, an
annual total of 4,650 man-days of labor will be furnished; 1,060,000 board feet of
lumber, 927 cords of fuelwood, and 7,410 fence posts will be produced and sold at
cost to subsistence homesteaders for their home use. Meanwhile the forest will have
been put in better growing condition, so that a future yield of greater volume, higher
quality, and more valuable products can be expected. Unquestionably, the annual
yield of stumpage from this forest can be increased at least three, probably four or
more times in volume, and still more in value.

In addition to the money values of the forest’s products, its value in prevent-
ing soil from washing away is considerable. Other important forest possibilities in-
clude the propagation of fish and game as an item of food for the homesteaders, the
grazing of live stock and dairy cattle, and recreation.

Table 18. -- Annual on a communitij forest in Jasper County, Georgia

Item

Acres covered

Man -days
required

Cc

Per acre

>st

Total

Number

Taxes

10,000

.08

800.00

Fire protection

10,000

200

0

01

500.00

Inventory and

marking

1,734

100

.20

347.00

Administration

10,000

40

o

to

200.00

Planting

133

200

5.00

665.00

540

2,512.00

USE OF FORESTS FOR SOIL PROTECTION,
GAME MANAGEMENT, RECREATION, AND GRAZING

Use of Forests for Soil Protection

The actual returns from a forest are more than the yields in wood products.
Soil protection and soil reconstruction, fish and game production, recreation, and
grazing of live stock are some of the other uses of a forest from which either direct
or indirect returns are received.

Among the most important uses of the forests in the Lower Piedmont Region
are the protection of soil against erosion and the reconstruction of soil that has
been badly washed by sheet and gully erosion. Since such a large part of the aban-
doned land has been eroded and so much of it has reverted to forests, a study was
made of the effects of forests in checking erosion. Records of active and arrested
erosion were taken on 924 one-quarter acre forest plots in old field pine stands and
on 512 forests plots in natural forest stands other than old field. About 4 percent
of all forest plots showed active or unarrested erosion. In the old field pine forests
of the six sample areas, 5.3 percent of the plots showed active erosion as compared
to only 1.4 percent of the plots in the other types. The investigation showed, as was
expected, that active erosion is found mostly in the young timber and in the poorly
stocked stands. Undoubtedly, these young stands will in time arrest the active ero-
sion. Some plots that showed active erosion lay just below large fields that drained
through the forest plot, the drainage resulting in active gullying. Fire, which burns
off the pine needles and other vegetative cover, frequently opens the area to sheet
erosion.

Forest plots with arrested erosion were classified in the following four groups,
depending on the degree of erosion which, though arrested, was still apparent: Sheet
- no apparent erosion, or mild sheet erosion with less than 30 percent of the B
soil horizon exposed; sheet - serious sheet erosion with more than 30 percent of
the B soil horizon exposed; gully #1 - occasional gullies; gully ^2 - heavily gullied
area unfit for agriculture. In old field pine, 94.7 percent of the forest plots showed
arrested erosion, divided as follows among the four grades of erosion: Sheet ^1, 40.3
percent; sheet #2, 16.5 percent; gully #1, 29.0 percent; and gully #2, 8.9 percent.
In other than old field forests, 98.6 percent of the forest plots showed arrested ero-
sion, divided as follows: Sheet #1, 87.3 percent; sheet #2, 2.5 percent; gully #1,
7.8 percent; and gully #2, 1.0 percent. Table 19 shows these erosion conditions by
classes of stands for the six sample areas as a whole; table 20 shows erosion condi-
tions for each of the six sample units. On areas with arrested erosion, the trees and
other vegetation are gradually rebuilding a fertile layer of top-soil upon the impov-
erished soils they reclai m.

An interesting contrast of soils was found in Jasper County near Monticello.
A natural forest that never had been cleared had a layer of top soil, or A horizon
soil, about 12 inches deep. At the edge of the forest the A horizon disappeared ab-
ruptly with the beginning of the adjoining cultivated field where sheet erosion was
active.

With an Abney hand level, the slope was ascertained for almost all plots on
the line plot survey. The forest plots were then classified into the following slope-
percent classes: 0-3 percent, 3 to 7 percent, 7 to 12 percent, and over 12 percent.
Table 21 shows the relationship between the degree of slope and class of erosion and
the class of stand. Slope data for the old field pine type, taken on 918 plots, are
distributed as follows: 10.8 percent of the areas had slopes of 3 percent or less;

- 39 -

43.2 percent had slopes between 3 and 7 percent; 30.6 percent had slopes between 7
and 12 percent; and 15.4 percent had slopes over 12 percent.- Ordinarily, as shown in
the old field pine plots in the different slope classifications, the steeper the de-
gree of slope, the greater the erosion has been in the past. Eighty percent of the
old field pine plots having the steepest slopes (12 percent and over) showed evidence
of serious sheet or gully erosion in the past, whereas only 3 percent of the plots on
gentle slopes showed signs of serious erosion now arrested.

Table 19. -- Percent of fared plots with active and arrested erosion by classes of forest stands for

the six sample areas as a whole

Erosion

arrested

Number

Class of stand

Active

Total

of

erosion

Sheet #1 ’

1 Sheet ^2 1 Gully ^1| Gully ^2

plots

Percent of total

Old field
pine type:

Sawtimber

well stocked

1.3

39.6

14.3

31.2

13.6

100

154

Young

well stocked
Sawtimber

5.9

46.1

20.4

21.7

5.9

100

152

medium stocked

2.0

29.8

17.2

36.4

14.6

100

198

Young

medium stocked
Sawtimber

11.3

44.4

15.0

25.6

3.7

100

133

poorly stocked
Young

1,7

39.0

18.6

33.9

6.8

100

118

poorly stocked

10.0

45,6

14.2

24.3

5.9

100

169

Averages and total 5.3

40,3

16.5

/

29.0

8.9

100

924

Pine hard-
wood type:

Sawtimber

1.9

89.8

.9

7^4

100

108

Young

2.1

81.1

2.1

14.7

1.0

100 .

95

Upland pine type:

Sawtimber

78.6

7.1

10.7

3.6

100

84

Young

2.7

83.5

3.7

9.2

.9

100

• 109

Bottomland hard-
wood pine type:

100.0

100

116

Averages and total 1.4

87.3

2.5

7.8

1.0

100

512

’sheet No.l includes plots with no apparent erosion, or with mild sheet erosion.

Table 20. -- Percent of fored plot^ with active and arreded erodon in each of the six sample areas

Erosion arrested

Number

Sample areas

Active

Total

of

erosion

Sheet #1 1 Sheet #2 1 Gully #1| Gully #2

plots

Percent of total

Old field
pine type:

Jasper

6.6

44.8

14.8

26.2

7.6

100

183

Monroe

5.5

31.3

23.1

29.1

11.0

100

182

Wilkes A.

4.1

61.0

13.7

15.7

5.5

100

146

Wilkes P.

1.7

48.3

14.6

34.5

.9

100

116

Meriwether

5.1

38.7

7.4

36.9

11.9

100

176

Morgan

8.3

16.5

28.1

32.2

14.9

100

121

Averages

and total

5.3

40.3

16.5

29.0

8.9

100

924

Other than old

field pine type:

Jasper

2.5

80.2

2.5

13.6

1.2

100

81

Monroe

89.4

3.2

7.4

100

94

Wilkes A.

87.6

2.5

9.9

100

81

Wilkes P.

2.7

84.9

5.5

6.9

100

73

Meriwether

2.3

92.0

5.7

100

88

Morgan

1.1

88.4

2.1

4.2

4.2

100

95

Averages

and total

1.4

87.3

2.5

7.8

1.0

100

512

Fish and Game Production and Recreation

The propagation of fish and game, which does not interfere with other uses of
the forest, can be made an important part of the management of forests in the Lower
Piedmont Region. Most streams are already fairly well stocked with fish, and the
land supports numerous rabbits, vsquirrels, quail, raccoon and opossum. Fish and game
now constitute a part of the food used by the population, and this free food could be
considerably increased.

The most important management measures are those designed to protect fish and
game through strict observance of fishing and hunting seasons and through the limita-
tion of the catch or kill. People in this region are more interested in fish and game
for food than for sport (although the latter is important); hence the propagation of
food fish, such as channel -cat, red-horse, drum, and buffalo, should be encouraged in
the streams and ponds, along with such game as rabbits, squirrels, quail, and opossum
in the forest. The sale of hunting and fishing rights also affords an opportunity of
obtaining a cash income from game management; but before this is possible, game fish,
such as black bass, and wild game, such as quail, wild turkey, deer, and valuable fur
bearing animals, must be stocked. Both food and game fish may be propagated, but in
general it may be expedient to allot a separate area for each. The practicability

. 41 -

Table 21

, . Erosion conditions in the old field pine type by stand classes and
degree of slope for the six sample units considered as a rtiole

Basis 918 plots

Slope 0-3 percent

Slope 3-7

percent

Class of
stand

Ac-

Erosion

checked “

Ac-'

Erosion

checke

3d

tive

ero«

sion

Sheet

#1

Sheet

#2

Gully

§l

Gully

#2

Total

tive

ero-

sion

Sheet

A

Sheet

#2

Gully

Gully

#2

Total

■ «. +■. rtf*

il

Old field

pine type:

Sawtimber
well stkd.

7o3

7.3

24.5

4,0

11.9

2.0

42,4

Young
well stkdo

17. a

17.2

z.%

23.8

11.9

10.6

.7

49.0

Sawtimber ,
medo stkd.

7.7

'VI 7^

. - 5

17.3

5.6

12.8

1.0

37.2

Young
med. stkde

9,8

.8

.7

11.3

5.2

28.6

8.3

12.8

.7

55.6

Sawtimber
poorly stkd

o

9.3

9.3

.9

19.5

5.1

11,0

.8

37.3

Young

poorly stkd

o

llo0

“ .6'

12:4

^4.7

23.1

1.8

10.0

• 6

40.2

Percent of
grand total

10o5

.2

.1

10.8

2.2

22.5

6.0

11.5

1.0

43.2

Percent of
individual

slope totals

97.0

2.0

1.0

100.0

5.0

52.1

13.9

26.7

P *7

100.0

Slope 7~12 -percent Slope 12 percent and over

Ola S3 of

Ac-

Erosi on

checked

Ac-

Eros ion

checked

stand

tive

ero-

sion

Sheet

#1

Sheet

#2

Gully

#1

GuUy
#2 ,

t

Total

tive

ero-

sion

Sheet

#1

Sheet

#2

Gully

h

Gully

#2

Total

Percent of total

Old field
pine type:

Sawtimber

v/ell stkd. .7

Young

6 • 6

8.6

10.6

5.3

31.8

.7

1.3

2.0.

8.6

5.9

18.5

v/ell stkd. 2.0

Sav/tiraber

5.3

6.0

10.6

2.6

26.5

1.3

2.7

.7

2.6

7.3

med* stkd.

Young

3*6

8.7

16,8

6.1

35.2

1.5

1.5

3. T

Q . 1

< .

19.9

med. stkd. 4.5

Sawtimber

5,3

3.0

11.3

.7

24.8

1.5

.7

3.0

.8

2.3

8.3

poorly Gtkd^ .9
YoUFig

7.6

7.6

15.3

2.5

33.9

2.6

5,9

7.6

3.4

19.5

poorl:,' stkd. 2.4

7.7

7.1

11,2

1.8

30.2

3.0

'3.0

4.7

3.0

3.5

17.2

Percent of

grand total ,9.^1 -.6

5.9 ■

7.0

12.7

3.4

30.6

1.4

1.5

3.5

4,5

4.5

15.4

Percent of :

individual
slope totals 5.4

19.2

22.8

41,6

11,0

100.0

9.2

9.9

22.7

29.1

29.1

100.0

and profitableness of game management have been demonstrated in southern Georgia
and northern Florida, where large tracts have been leased to hunting clubs. On other
tracts a fee for bunting is charged. Valuable assistance in game management may be
obtained by cooperating with such public agencies as the Georgia State Fish and Game
Department, the Georgia Forest Service, the United States Biological Survey, and the
United States Bureau of Fisheries.

Except for fishing and hunting, the forests of this region will scarcely be used
extensively for recreation. The streams are mostly unsatisfactory for swimming, and
the climate is not conducive to summer camping.

Grazing

Individual farmers use the forests and idle land as a range for a few livestock.
Grazing, however, is not a large industry in this region and probably will not be of
much importance in the future. As forests claim the idle land, and as stocking be-
comes heavier under fire protection and forest management, the value of the forest
as a range for cattle and other livestock wil Ibecome less and less.

SUMMARY

The Lower Piedmont Region of Georgia includes 35 counties located just north
of the fall line in the central part of the state. More than four-fifths of the re-
gion has been cleared at one time or another, but owing to the inroads of the boll
weevil and the destructive methods of cultivation that have resulted in serious ero-
sion of the soil, a large part of the total area has been abandoned from cultivation
and has reforested to old field pine. Approximately 56 percent of the area was in
woodland in 1930, and 43 percent was in cleared land; but only half the cleared land
yielded harvest crops. About 40 percent of the cleared land (17 percent of the total
area of the region) was idle, and 70 percent of this idle land (12 percent of the total
region) was unfit for agriculture. Slightly more than tw^o-thirds of the forested area
was in old field pine stands, about 10 percent was in ridge stands of upland pine and
hardwoods, 11 percent was in branch head and second bottom pine and hardwoods, and
11 percent was in bottomland hardwoods. Owing chiefly to the heavy cutting of sal-
able timber by farmers who needed a cash income to supplement their diminished crop
incomes, most timber stands are poorly stocked with sawtimber trees. Stands are also
commonly understocked as to total number of trees. The quality of timber is accord-
ingly poor, resulting in a small annual increment of sawtimber and low stumpage
values. The financial possibilities at present are not verj^ attractive, but with
management these forests should yield much better returns as well as a satisfactory
profit.

In January 1934. 220 small sawmills in this region were allotted production
quotas under the Lumber Code totaling 14,128,000 board feet of lumber and involving
42,384 man-da3^s of employment per month. A concentration j^ard with a planing mill
and small portable mills scattered in the better patches of timber is the common set-
up for lumbering. "Roofers”, which sell for about $20.00 per thousand board feet,
are the chief product. About three 8-hour man-days are required to log and mill 1,000
board feet of lumber.

A farm in Meriwether County illustrates the financial possibilities of farm
woodlands. It has 230 acres of forested land of the following classes: Old field

43 -

pine, 160 acres; upland pine and hardwoods, 18 acres; branch head and second bottom
pine and hardwoods, 32 acres; bottomland hardwoods, 20 acres. In addition, it has
17 acres of idle land, unsuited to agriculture, which should be planted to forest trees.
The per-acre volumes and present annual increment of the well stocked old field pine
stands are 3,339 and 237 board feet respectively; those of poorly stocked stands are
1,435 and 97 board feet respectively. The present current per-acre stumpage values
of the annual increment in well stocked and poorly stocked stands are $0.59 and $0,24
respectively. The total annual increment of sawtimber on the farm is 22,670 board
feet of pine and 5,613 board feet of hardwoods; and the total value of this increment,
which is also the allowable cut, is $67.91, or $0.30 per are of forested area. In
addition to sawtimber, 22 cords of fuelwood and 154 fence posts can be cut from the
tops of felled sawtimber trees and from the trees removed in making improvement cut-
tings and thinnings. The farmer will need the fence posts and about 12 cords, of the
fuelwood for use on the farm, but he can sell the other 10 cords for $20.00 cash.
The annual costs of forest management for the farm woodland are: $0.14 per acre, or
$32.20 for 230 acres, as a cash payment for taxes; 3 man-days’ labor in fire protec-
tion; 26 man-days in improvement cuttings, thinning, and marking for harvest cutting.
The cost per acre of planting the idle land is $2.00 for planting stock and 1| man-
days’ labor in planting.

A study of financial possibilities of present stands on a 10,000 acre subsis-
tence homestead community forest--- on which the homesteaders furnish all labor for
forestry activities, logging and manufacturing; pay, in addition to their contributed
labor, the current stumpage value for the timber utilized; and receive in return the
forest products- --showed that incomes and expenses would balance. The forest pro-
ducts making up the annual cut are: 707,330 board feet of pine lumber; 352,210 board
feet of hardwood lumber; 2,210 pine fence posts; 5,200 hardwood fence posts; 575 cords
of pine fuelwood; and 353 cords of hardwood fuelwood. The total value of the stump-
age, with pine at $2.50 and hardwood at $2.00 per thousand board feet, is $2,472, or
$0.25 per acre. The annual costs of forest management' and of producing forest stump-
age are: $0.08 per acre, or $800 for taxes; $0.05 per acre, or $500 for fire protection;
$665 for planting stock and labor to plant 133 acres; $0.20 per acre, or $347 for in-
ventory and marking the annual cut on 1,734 acres; $0.02 per acre, or $200 for admin-
istration; a total of $2,512 or $0.25 per acre, A total of 4,650 man-days of labor
will be furnished annually to subsistence homesteaders in management activities and
in manufacturing forest products.

The plots taken in this study indicate very little active erosion in the forest,
even though much of the forest is old field pine that has reestablished itself upon
seriously eroded field. The forest’s ability to arrest soil erosion is therefore evi-
dent; only 5.3 percent of the old field pine stands and 1.4 percent of the natural for-
est stands other than old field showed active erosion. It was found also in old
field pine stands that 10.8 percent of the areas had slopes less than 3 percent, 43.2
percent had slopes between 3 and 7 percent, 30.6 percent had slopes between 7 and 12
percent, and 15.4 percent had slopes greater than 12 percent. Eighty percent of the
old field pine stands with slopes greater than 12 percent showed evidence of serious
erosion in the past, whereas only 3 percent of the areas on gentle slopes showed signs
of serious erosion.

The possibilities of using the forest for fish and game production, recreation,
and grazing are also worthy of consideration.

- 44 -

APPENDIX

Table 1. -- Gener^al distribution of land area by major use classes. Lower Piedmont Region, based

on 1980 Agriculture census

Total land

Agricultural

Urban

Forested

County

area

land

areas

land

Baldwin

196,480

67,459

2,305

126,716

Butts

129,920

66,307

2,167

61,446

Clarke

72,960

42, 700

3,818

26,442

Claj^ton

90,880

51,570

1,868

37,442

Columbia

224,000

72,821

1,487

149,692

Coweta

283, 520

134,651

5, 926

142,943

Elbert

231,040

116,136

3,626

111,278

Fayette

149,760

62,825

1,466

85,469

Greene

266,240

96,796

2,850

166,594

Hancock

339, 200

107,807

2,694

228,699

Harris

320,640

97,312

1,623

221,705

Hart

167,040

103, 909

2,268

60, 863

Henry

207,360

117,245

2,683

87,432

Jasper

205,440

98, 547

3,016

103,877

Jones

241,280

95,273

1,832

144,175

Lamar

117,760

61,143

844

55,773

Lincoln

186,240

55,719

1,570

128,951

McDuffie

183,680

65,053

1,518

117,109

Meriwether

317,440

164,281

5,233

147,926

Monroe

300,800

94, 967

3,116

202,717

Morgan

249, 600

99,429

3,303

146,868

Newton

167,680

92, 594

4,135

70,951

Oconee

110,080

66,036

1,513

42,531

Oglethorpe

322, 560

127,545

2,628

192,387

Pike

151,680

82, 554

3,373

65,753

Putnam

231,040

74,099

1,546

155,395

Rockdale

76, 160

48,592

1,112

26,456

Spalding

133,760

76, 646

3,372

53,742

Talbot

199,680

82,363

2,562

114,755

Taliaferro

135,680

53,799

875

81,006

Troup

278,400

119,842

6,706

151,852

Upson

202,880

83,726

2,567

116,587

Walton

211,840

130,703

3,639

77,498

Wilkes

293, 120

113,134

3,129

176,857

Warren

258,560

104,136

1,714

152,710

Total

7, 254, 400

3,127,719

94,084

4,032,597

Percent of total

100.0

43.1

1.3

55.6

• 45 -

Table 2. -- Height growth and mortality in plantations in the Lower Piedmont Region

No.

Species

Year

planted

(Spring)

Aver-

age

height

May

1933

Maxi -

mum

height

May

1933

Area

Esti-

mated

survival

May

1933

Notes ’

a

Loblolly

1931

Feet

4

Feet

5

Acres

1

Percent

90

Eroded old field. Slope over

b

pine

I f

1931

3

4

1

95

\2%.

Eroded old field.

c

( f

1931

pi

4

10

95

Eroded old field. Slope 20%.

d

f f

1930

5

7

1

95

Planted with alternate rows

e

t?

1930

4

6

1

98

of cowpeas.

Eroded abandoned pasture.

f

If

1933

1

2

14

3

98

Slope 7-12%.

Dry sandy old field. Slope

g

If

1927

19

21

1

95

7-12^.

Planted 6x8 feet on fair

h

f f

1929

8

12

10

95

site.

Poor soil. Gully slope over

i

ft

1929

8

13

1

95

125^.

Fair, level site. Spacing 6 x

j

ft

1930

7

11

1

95

6 feet.

Fair level site.

k

f1

1929

34

5

3

90

Fair level site.

k (1)

ft

1929

44

9

3

Direct seeding excellent stand

k (2)

1

If

ft

1933

1930

3

5

1

92

caught on fair site. Pine
straw added.

Direct seeding apparently a
failure.

Tip moth damage. Planted 3 x

in

f f

1928

6

11

3

85

4 feet.

Poor site, crowded spacing,

n

1930

3

8

1

75

3x4 feet.

Good level site. Spacing 6x8

0

If

1931

24

3

40

80

feet. Tip moth damage.
Poor steep site. Dense vege-

a

Slash pine

1931

24

4

20

95

tation.

Poor old field site. Slope

b

tf

1931

3

4

3

90

over 12%.

Poor dry old field site. Slope

c

If

1931

3

4

2

95

over 12%.

Poor, gullied slope.

d

f f

1931

24

34

10

95

Eroded, clay soil. Slope over

e

ft

1931

3

44

20

65

15%, spacing 6x8 feet.
Mountainous site. Rocky and

f

If

1931

24

4

7

72

dry. Slope over 12%.

Dry sandy site. Spacing 6x8

g

If

1931

4

6

8

85

feet.

Fair site. Slope 3-7%, spacing

h

f f

1931

2

3

10

50

6 X 10 feet.

Poor site. Vegetation dense.

• 46 •

Table 2. -- Height growth and mortality in plantatiom in the Lower Piedmont Region-- Continued

Aver-

Maxi-

Esti-

Year

age

mum

mated

Species

planted

height

height

Area

survival

Notes ’

(Spring)

May

May

May

1933

1933

1933

Feet

Feet

Aeres

Percent

a

Longleaf

pine

1928

4

8

10

90

Good site, spacing 6x8 feet.

b

1*

1932

2

3i

10

90

Good site. Slope 5%, Spac-

ing 7x7.

c

*f

1931

1

2

7

85

Poor, eroded site. Spacing

8x8.

d

ft

1929

3

6

10

70

Poor mountainous site. Slope

10^.

e

ff

1931

1

2

1

50

Fair site.

f

ff

1931

4

1

100

25

Poor, badly eroded site.

Dense vegetation.

a

(Red cedar

1932

3

4

1

90

Old eroded field. Slope over

(Black locust

1932

3

4

90

\2%,

b

(Tulip poplar

1932

14

3

1

75

Fair site. Vegetation dense.

(Loblolly

1931

4

5

90

c

(Slash

1931

24

3i

1

95

Eroded hillside old field.

(Loblolly

1931

24

3i

95

d

(Slash

1931

24

4

10

95

Old field eroded slope. Vege-

(Loblolly

1931

24

4

tation dense.

e

Black locust

1923

27

40 2

1

98

Crowded in planting 6x6.

Fair site. Damaged by

vines.

f

Black locust

1931

7

13

3

90

Poor mountainous site.

1

2

All except two of th€
exceptions were direct
The maximum diameter
trees are large enough

plantations were established by planting seedlings; the
seedlings .

4-1/2 feet above ground is 6 inches and some of the
to yield 3 or 4 small fence posts of excellent quality.

. 47 .

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